BRM Reviews the 4/24/2018 Smackdown

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Big Red Machine
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BRM Reviews the 4/24/2018 Smackdown

Post by Big Red Machine » Apr 25th, '18, 12:55

MIZ TV WITH SPECIAL GUEST DANIEL BRYAN BIG CASS- surprisingly good
First Miz cuts a promo saying he’ll win the IC Title in the Ladder Match at Greatest Royal Rumble, and therefore tie Jericho’s record for the most IC Title reigns in history. Then he brings out Bryan, claiming that Bryan and Birdie don’t have the same bond that Miz has with his daughter. He says a bunch of other outrageous stuff, but then claims that becoming a father has changed him, so he says that if Bryan still wants to come out and punch him in the face then that’s fine.
Bryan doesn’t come out, even after several calls. Then Big Cass comes out instead. He’s wearing a suit, and makes a big show of putting on his jacket and a fancy watch. Miz is confused as to why Cass is out here. Cass says Miz should interview him instead. Cass is angry that no one cared about him while he was injured and when he was cleared to return (which happened on the same day Bryan was cleared).
Miz tells Cass that he doesn’t his help with Bryan. Cass responds by telling Miz “not everything in this world is about you.” Miz cut a big promo on Cass so Cass threatened to beat him up. Miz successfully managed to turn Cass’ attention back to Bryan. Cass cut a great promo on Bryan and the fans.

Before I got too angry, they managed to answer the question of “what happened to Bryan” (he got laid out backstage), but it would have been nice if the announcers had shown some sort of concern for him when he was missing.

IICONICS PROMO- it’s only their third week on the roster and they’ve already had their entrance cut for a commercial. I get that their gimmick is the mean girls who think they’re a lot funnier than they actually are so they’re trying to be cringe-worthy on purpose, but they’ve hit the point where they’re so cringe-worthy that I feel embarrassed while watching it.

BECKY LYNCH & ASUKA vs. THE IICONICS- 4/10
The IIconics got beaten up for most of the match but won when Peyton pinned Becky with her feet on the ropes. Can we at least give them a clean win?

RENEE YOUNG INTERVIEWS AJ STYLES- We’re getting Nakamura, Rusev, & English vs. AJ & two mystery partners.

ANDRADE “CIEN” ALMAS VIDEO PACKAGE- good

USOS & NAOMI BACKSTAGE- very good.
Jimmy wants her not to put herself in danger by coming out to the ring last week. She won’t agree to do it. She has a bad feeling about tonight’s match because of the looks she saw in the Bludgeon Brothers’ eyes last week. This came off as completely real and natural. A married couple acting a like a real married couple.

ERICK ROWAN (w/Luke Harper) vs. JIMMY USO (w/Jey Uso)- 3.75/10
Rowan beat Jimmy up a bunch, and then was about to hit him with a powerslam when the lights went out and Naomi did her full entrance, complete with dancing. This distracted the Bludgeon Brothers and allowed Jey to Superkick Harper and Jimmy to do similar and pin Rowan. I really didn’t like this finish simply because the Bludgeon Brothers seem like the type of guys who won’t be distracted by someone’s erotic dancing.

BACKLASH WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH CONTRACT SIGNING- very good
Renee brought Carmella out first… and Carmella grabbed a mic and buried Renee for it, saying “in what world is it acceptable to introduce a champion before the challenger.” Preach on!
She cut a promo on the fans for booing her and her video package last week, so she says she’s going to play it again and that the fans should give her the respect she deserves and stand up and applaud after it. She wasn’t happy with the reaction she got, so she demanded that the video package be played yet again and said that we would do this until the fans got it right.
The video package started again but was interrupted by Charlotte coming out. They signed the contract. Carmella was a jerk, so Charlotte shoved the table over onto her. Charlotte didn’t say a word the whole time, which I thought was something the announcers really should have focused on. It made Charlotte feel laser-focused. Having Renee moderate this instead of Shane or Paige was a little weird, but other than that, this was very good- especially Carmella’s promo.

DASHA TRIES TO INTERVIEW SHINSUKE NAKAMURA- Aiden English pops out of Nakamura’s locker room to sternly tell her “no interviews.”

SHELTON BENJAMIN vs. RANDY ORTON- 4.5/10
Jeff came out first even though Randy Orton was Shelton’s opponent, in an equally awkward play off of last week’s awkwardness. A masked person clipped Jeff’s knee on the outside. Randy caught him and unmasked him as Sunil Singh, then gave him an RKO. This let Shelton hit Randy with Paydirt and pin him. The thing with Sunil obviously builds to Jeff vs. Jinder but once again I’m certain there will be no consequences for a wrestler showing up on the other guy’s show, which just makes you wonder why they don’t do it every week?

NEW DAY ACT LIKE GOOFS BACKSTAGE- cringe-worthy and horrid
Sheamus & Cesaro show up to announce that after they win the Raw Tag Team Titles at the Greatest Royal Rumble they will go back to Raw. So… if a champion switches brands he/she/they brings the championship with him/her/them, but if somebody(ies) from the other brand wins a title, the title drags him/her/them to the show it is currently attached to? I think that does actually match up with everything we’ve seen and been told, although it would be really nice if they would just come out and tell us how this all works.
The reason they don’t, of course, is that they like to have their “flexibility” if they want to tell a story that requires things to work differently in the future, but the problem with that is that the parameters of the setting don’t allow for you to do that. As I ranted on last night on Raw, it makes zero sense for a professional sporting league (which is what a wrestling promotion is in kayfabe) to not have these rules officially codified and announced. And if you want to change the rules because of a story you want to do, all you have to do is announce a change in the rules- just like MLB did before this season- and people will accept it (although you shouldn’t do it too often and should do it in a way where it doesn’t feel like you’re changing it just to do this one storyline you want to do).
Stupid sh*t from all five men ensued.

AJ’S PARTNERS WILL BE GALLOWS & ANDERSON- cool.

SAnitY VIDEO PACKAGE- I choose to purposely misinterpret the part of this video that said “CHAOS ARRIVES” as meaning that the entire CHAOS faction in New Japan is jumping to Smackdown (presumably to back up their old leader in his war with Bullet Club.

RENEE YOUNG INTERVIEWS DANIEL BRYAN- AWESOME promo
Bryan is coming out of the trainer’s room. He is heavily taped up and has ice on his shoulder. He assures us that he’ll be ready to go at the Greatest Royal Rumble. Renee asks him what happened, and Bryan proceeded to cut an awesome promo on Cass, who he now has a match at Backlash against.
They said that Paige signed this match. While we’re on this subject, it seems pretty clear that neither Shane nor Paige are at the building tonight, but the way they have shot these segments (especially the earlier one where Renee interviewed AJ but was camped outside of what a sign told us was Shane’s office) did a great job of at least making it feel like they were here in kayfabe (though Renee officiating the contract signing kind of hurt that).

SAMOA JOE PROMO- fine.

SHINSUKE NAKAMURA, AIDEN ENGLISH, & RUSEV vs. THE CLUB (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, & Karl Anderson)- 6.25/10
Does it anyone else find it a little weird that they haven’t let Rusev cut a single promo to hype up his CASKET MATCH WITH THE UNDERTAKER?
Nakamura’s entrance music has been remixed and has picked up some lyrics. Corey Graves said that Nakamura requested this change because he was tired of the fans singing along.
The match was a little disappointing but Nakamura pinning Gallows was the right finish, and the post-match segment was excellent build to AJ vs. Nakamura, and also gives Gallows a character moment than can be built off of later by having him sacrifice himself for AJ.

Another good episode of Smackdown despite yet again being sub-part in the ring. In hindsight, it’s really the AJ/Nakamura stuff, the Bryan/Miz/Cass stuff, and the women’s title stuff that is carrying the show, with everything else being either meh or bad, but that’s all of the major stuff that is going on so the show feels like it is building to the important things very well.

I can’t wait for the Greatest Royal Rumble to be over, simply so I don’t have to hear the phrase “in the beautiful city of Jeddah” every four minutes.
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Re: BRM Reviews the 4/24/2018 Smackdown

Post by KILLdozer » Apr 26th, '18, 14:02

I honestly think Peyton Royce is the better of the two. I've really noticed lately, maybe it's the move to SD and a much needed fresh change of environment, but she's the one who's entertaining me the most. Notice she also got the pin and was in-ring more?
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Re: BRM Reviews the 4/24/2018 Smackdown

Post by cero2k » Apr 26th, '18, 14:23

KILLdozer wrote: Apr 26th, '18, 14:02 I honestly think Peyton Royce is the better of the two. I've really noticed lately, maybe it's the move to SD and a much needed fresh change of environment, but she's the one who's entertaining me the most. Notice she also got the pin and was in-ring more?
agree. Peyton was always the most noticeable of the too for me, her face communicates more than Kay's
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Re: BRM Reviews the 4/24/2018 Smackdown

Post by KILLdozer » Apr 26th, '18, 14:47

cero2k wrote: Apr 26th, '18, 14:23
KILLdozer wrote: Apr 26th, '18, 14:02 I honestly think Peyton Royce is the better of the two. I've really noticed lately, maybe it's the move to SD and a much needed fresh change of environment, but she's the one who's entertaining me the most. Notice she also got the pin and was in-ring more?
agree. Peyton was always the most noticeable of the too for me, her face communicates more than Kay's
Plus Kay just kinda has this natural look I don't like lol .
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Re: BRM Reviews the 4/24/2018 Smackdown

Post by Big Red Machine » Apr 26th, '18, 14:58

Peyton seems like a better worker, too, and the fact that most of the bigger opportunities in NXT have gone to her instead of Billie always made her feel like the bigger star, with Billie Kay as more of a sidekick.
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Re: BRM Reviews the 4/24/2018 Smackdown

Post by KILLdozer » Apr 26th, '18, 16:07

I'd definitely think she's the better worker, hence why she was more in the ring and actually got the pin on Becky Lynch. Didn't she face Charlotte last week as well?

Speaking of...Charlotte beats Peyton Royce. Charlotte dumps the table on Carmella.

Can any of these women actually get heat on her and keep it for at least 1 week?
That's what makes me dislike Charlotte above all else.
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Re: BRM Reviews the 4/24/2018 Smackdown

Post by Big Red Machine » Apr 26th, '18, 17:20

KILLdozer wrote: Apr 26th, '18, 16:07 I'd definitely think she's the better worker, hence why she was more in the ring and actually got the pin on Becky Lynch. Didn't she face Charlotte last week as well?

Speaking of...Charlotte beats Peyton Royce. Charlotte dumps the table on Carmella.

Can any of these women actually get heat on her and keep it for at least 1 week?
That's what makes me dislike Charlotte above all else.
I definitely agree that they're protecting her too much, but I thought the Carmella thing was good. It's more the win over Billie last week that was the mistake. Never mind general principle, but if your whole plan for Charlotte vs. Ronda is to establish Ronda as a "streak ender" then it makes sense to use the resources you have (in this case, two more women who have just been called up and thus can be treated as "undefeated on Smackdown") to keep having her end streaks over the course of the year.
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Re: BRM Reviews the 4/24/2018 Smackdown

Post by KILLdozer » Apr 26th, '18, 17:24

No one should be getting any kind of heat like that on Carmella anytime soon nor at any point near it. She just hit it big and has definitely been establishing some heat, so just let her run with it in the classic consistent style and KEEP PEOPLE WAITING for someone to actually get one over. This could be Edge heel type of stuff if done right. Always, slipping away.
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Re: BRM Reviews the 4/24/2018 Smackdown

Post by Big Red Machine » Apr 26th, '18, 17:53

KILLdozer wrote: Apr 26th, '18, 17:24 No one should be getting any kind of heat like that on Carmella anytime soon nor at any point near it. She just hit it big and has definitely been establishing some heat, so just let her run with it in the classic consistent style and KEEP PEOPLE WAITING for someone to actually get one over. This could be Edge heel type of stuff if done right. Always, slipping away.
The key difference there is that unlike Edge, Carmella has never been built up as a serious competitor so you can't do the Edge thing because even that requires him to have some believable fortitude. She's someone who is going to have to get a bunch of BS wins where she either lucks out because someone else decides to interfere/turn on the babyface, or she steals a pin or something like that. She's the sort of heel who wins a cage match by getting punched and taking the bump out the door, and the heat comes from her talking herself up like she's a deserving champion when she isn't (and she's not even outsmarting the babyfaces via cheating- she's just getting lucky and claiming it's all skill).
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Re: BRM Reviews the 4/24/2018 Smackdown

Post by KILLdozer » Apr 26th, '18, 20:52

Well then with that way of saying it, it could still be done as over and over winning someway or another, through whatever ridiculous ways that may be. She could definitely be built stronger as an actual competitor, and I think we could might see that.
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Re: BRM Reviews the 4/24/2018 Smackdown

Post by Bob-O » Apr 27th, '18, 07:35

KILLdozer wrote: Apr 26th, '18, 20:52 Well then with that way of saying it, it could still be done as over and over winning someway or another, through whatever ridiculous ways that may be. She could definitely be built stronger as an actual competitor, and I think we could might see that.
Not so much as an "competitor", but it's exactly what they did with Daniel Bryan as an entertainer.
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Re: BRM Reviews the 4/24/2018 Smackdown

Post by KILLdozer » Apr 29th, '18, 10:24

I don't really like this Samoa Joe style of promo that's basically "YEAH! AFTER THE GREATEST ROYAL RUMBLE, GONNA KICK! THAT GUY'S ! AAAAAASSSSS!!!!!"

It's just a lot of shouting and sweating and intensity.
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Re: BRM Reviews the 4/24/2018 Smackdown

Post by KILLdozer » Apr 29th, '18, 10:28

To add to that-if that's what I wanted to hear...I'd rather hear Strowman talk about "Everyone is GONNA GET THESE HANDS!"
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Re: BRM Reviews the 4/24/2018 Smackdown

Post by Big Red Machine » Apr 29th, '18, 10:57

KILLdozer wrote: Apr 29th, '18, 10:28 To add to that-if that's what I wanted to hear...I'd rather hear Strowman talk about "Everyone is GONNA GET THESE HANDS!"
Really? You'd really rather hear Braun;s stupid catchphrase than Samoa Joe tell you he's going to annihilate someone? Have you not seen any of Joe's stuff in ROH or TNA or NXT?
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Re: BRM Reviews the 4/24/2018 Smackdown

Post by KILLdozer » Apr 29th, '18, 12:34

Big Red Machine wrote: Apr 29th, '18, 10:57
KILLdozer wrote: Apr 29th, '18, 10:28 To add to that-if that's what I wanted to hear...I'd rather hear Strowman talk about "Everyone is GONNA GET THESE HANDS!"
Really? You'd really rather hear Braun;s stupid catchphrase than Samoa Joe tell you he's going to annihilate someone? Have you not seen any of Joe's stuff in ROH or TNA or NXT?
There's nothing stupid about Strowman. He's the future lol. I've never been a fan of the guy at all. In fact, he's probably my least favorite out of all of the indy guys. Just don't like him. His half here, half there, neckbeard doesn't help.

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Re: BRM Reviews the 4/24/2018 Smackdown

Post by Bob-O » Apr 29th, '18, 14:12

What happened with Balor? Seemed like they had huge plans for him when they called him up, strapping him immediately...

From a "Sports Entertainment" aspect, chicks dig him, kids love The Demon, and wrestlefans will forever love him for The Bullet Club stuff. Imagine if they put a Roman Reigns level of machine behind him... but, it's still Vince's call, and he's small, he's old, and he's got an accent so we'll probably never know.

I like Joe, but I don't think he's the guy to carry WWE, and I'm not sure Strowman is either. Both are great "guys to wrestle 'the guy'", but won't be "the guy". I get more of a Big Show vibe off of Strowman and less of a Cena/Rock/Austin/Hogan vibe off of Strowman...

Thing is, you have to remember about those "indy guys", is that before Hunter took over developmental there's a VERY VERY good chance that Vince passed on them a few years ago back when he wanted nothing to do with the indies and thought training bodybuilders how to take bumps was the way to go. Putting a guy like Joe in that position (a guy we KNOW he passed on), in the "THE guy" position, would be Vince admitting he was wrong. Guys like Drew McIntyre or Bobby Lashley might stand a better chance since they started there, but they don't fit McMahon's criteria either...
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Re: BRM Reviews the 4/24/2018 Smackdown

Post by Big Red Machine » Apr 29th, '18, 14:37

Bob-O wrote: Apr 29th, '18, 14:12 What happened with Balor? Seemed like they had huge plans for him when they called him up, strapping him immediately...

From a "Sports Entertainment" aspect, chicks dig him, kids love The Demon, and wrestlefans will forever love him for The Bullet Club stuff. Imagine if they put a Roman Reigns level of machine behind him... but, it's still Vince's call, and he's small, he's old, and he's got an accent so we'll probably never know.

I like Joe, but I don't think he's the guy to carry WWE, and I'm not sure Strowman is either. Both are great "guys to wrestle 'the guy'", but won't be "the guy". I get more of a Big Show vibe off of Strowman and less of a Cena/Rock/Austin/Hogan vibe off of Strowman...

Thing is, you have to remember about those "indy guys", is that before Hunter took over developmental there's a VERY VERY good chance that Vince passed on them a few years ago back when he wanted nothing to do with the indies and thought training bodybuilders how to take bumps was the way to go. Putting a guy like Joe in that position (a guy we KNOW he passed on), in the "THE guy" position, would be Vince admitting he was wrong. Guys like Drew McIntyre or Bobby Lashley might stand a better chance since they started there, but they don't fit McMahon's criteria either...
What happened with Balor is literally than Vince at one point in mid 2017 decided he didn't have "it," and that was all it took. Same story as what happened with Cesaro.

As for Joe... maybe I'm biased because I've seen him be the baddest badass of all badasses in two different companies, but I just don't understand what there is to not like about the guy.

Braun, in my opinion, is limited in his ability to be "the guy" due to the giant gimmick. A giant isn't a guy you can keep putting the belt on and then having him lose it. He's the sort of guy that you keep strong but away from the belt, and the few times you do put the belt on him, you leave it on him for, like, a year, and then you make someone new by having them take it from him.

As for Vince's pig-headed need to be right about things: I don't that will impede Lashley because Vince never changed his mind on Lashley so much as Lashley just left. Drew might have a tougher road back.
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